Shyla Niemi didn’t grow up learning Ojibwa. She only learned a few words and phrases in the language, such as “come here” and “slow down.”
She now gets to teach others to speak Indigenous languages while practising and learning herself through a new program at The Forks.
“I didn’t grow up hearing the language, and I didn’t grow up having a lot of role models,” the Indigenous language co-ordinator said Wednesday. “Hosting these language tables, I’m kind of creating what I wanted to see growing up.”
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS
Indigenous languages programs co-ordinator Shyla Niemi teaches others to speak Indigenous languages while practising and learning herself through a new program at The Forks.
The language program, in partnership with Winnipeg Trails, encourages Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to learn Cree and Ojbiwa. The workshops, hosted Wednesdays through Thursdays during the summer, provide a place to practise for people with varying levels of fluency in the languages.
Niemi, 25, said it’s important to offer the program in an accessible way and run the workshops in a way that’s different from a typical classroom setting.
“It’s not always easy to learn in a classroom,” she said. “You can get really bored as a professor goes on and on, but also it’s very expensive to learn in classrooms. There’s a real bottleneck in Canada where… there’s not enough teachers with the Western credentials to teach the languages anymore.”
Just over half of Indigenous peoples who speak an Indigenous language live in the Prairie provinces, 2021 data from Statistics Canada show. There are about 15,520 people who speak Cree languages and 7,060 Ojibwa language speakers in Manitoba.
Niemi didn’t start learning Ojibwa until last year. She said she had less time to practise while she was taking classes at Red River College Polytechnic and wanted to continue learning this summer.
The language workshops have made her realize she wants to shift her focus from web design and put her energy into Indigenous-based work.
“It’s a lot more meaningful to me. I’d love to help contribute in any way I can,” Niemi said.
Visitors learn from games such as animal bingo. The name of an animal is read out in Cree or Ojibwa, and players must match the word to a picture of the animal. Niemi said it’s cool when participants start to recognize the animals while playing.
She also uses flashcards and charts for the weather, months and days of the week to teach. A small library of books and dictionaries are available in the space.
Games make learning less scary and intimidating, Niemi said.
She hopes to help preserve the languages and build community.
“I hope (participants) learn the language. It’s a really beautiful language,” Niemi said. “It’s definitely important for us to see more of the language in the landscape, especially here at The Forks. The Forks has been an Indigenous meeting place for over 6,000 years, so we’re kind of honouring that history by gathering and learning the language together.”
Wednesdays at 6 p.m. are immersion days at Winnipeg Trails near the bike check location, where students can only speak in Ojibwa. Introductory courses for Cree are held at 5 p.m. Thursdays, followed by Ojibwa lessons at 6 p.m. Game nights are hosted in both languages at 6 p.m. Fridays.
“It’s hard for sure, but most of the fun is trying to figure it out together,” Niemi said. “It’s a lot of laughs.”
jura.mcilraith@freepress.mb.ca